New referral process for occupational health

There's now a new way to make occupational health referrals across UHD from this week.

Referrals will now be made exclusively through an online portal. All staff will have their own log in and use to submit all pre-employment, self-referrals and management referrals.

This will allow a quicker and easier process that allows staff to make referrals through the EOPAS portal from any device.

It works by logging on to the portal https://rbch.eopas.co.uk/ and then following the instructions found on the site or by following the guide on the occupational health pages of the intranet.

This change affects all staff members – managers when submitting a management referral, and all other staff when self-referring.

For support, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Latest visiting guidance

We continually review our visiting guidance in line with the government's Covid roadmap. Our most up-to-date guidance can be viewed on the intranet and on our website.

Visiting is only permitted once a patient has been admitted for 72 hours and we know they do not have Covid-19. Unfortunately, no visitors are allowed for patients who have Covid-19 except for compassionate reasons, for example patients receiving end of life care.

Key points to note:

• Maternity guidance has recently been updated and can be found here.
• While each patient may have one named visitor, per day for one hour, this can be a different named visitor each time, for example a patient's partner one day, and their son/daughter the next (limiting the different visitors to four).
• We would appreciate visitors taking part in the government's free lateral flow test (LFD) programme, and ordering a kit online if their loved one is in hospital. Kits can be ordered from https://maps.test-and-trace.nhs.uk. PPE will still need to be worn.

Prioritising our waiting lists

Over the last year we have had to cancel many non-emergency operations and procedures across our hospitals. We are now contacting patients on these waiting lists to continue to prioritise. Our theatre staff across Poole and Royal Bournemouth hospitals have made this film for the public to explain why it is so important that any patients who receive a message from UHD responds to help us with this work. Please forward on to anyone who has concerns about being contacted in this way.

RBH: Extra car parking spaces available for non-clinical UHD staff

As part of the important enabling work ahead of the build phase of the MCEC and main entrance works, a range of new car parking arrangements have been established on the RBH site – full details are here

As a result of further feedback extra designated car parking spaces are now available at the Littledown Centre (outlined in the accompanying image). We are offering these to full permit holding non-clinical staff only so we can free up car parking space on site for staff dealing directly with patients and visitors.

Non-clinical staff who work at RBH between 8am – 6pm, and who are on site 5 days per week, are eligible to request one of these Littledown parking permits. They will allow for access to a designated parking space between 6am and 10:15pm on weekdays and between 8am to 6pm on Saturdays. Note, they cannot be accessed on a Sunday.

Please note that there are a maximum of 100 permits which can be allocated at this time and will be allocated to eligible staff on a on a 'first-come, first-serve' basis. Staff will need to already hold a permit to park, and the period will run to March 2024. If successful, the recipient will lose their access to parking on site and will have to surrender their staff permit.

If you would like to request one of these permits, please email the travel team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thank you for your assistance and we apologise for the disruption and inconvenience during these construction works.

Reminder: Debbie Fleming's video update

Debbie Fleming, chief executive, thanks all staff involved in our Covid-19 vaccination programme in her latest video update, and looks ahead to how our hospitals are working to tackle our growing waiting lists. Please watch and share with colleagues without access to email: https://youtu.be/4zlbc3JFckg.

Job matching and evaluation

All posts requiring a review in accordance with the Job Evaluation and Re-banding Policy and Procedure should be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Job Evaluation and Re-banding Policy and Procedure can be found on the HR policy page on the RBCH intranet with details of the process and the required forms and templates to use. If you require any support with the policy and procedure, please contact your HR Business Partner in the first instance.

POOLE: Reminder - Canon Jane Lloyd funeral

Staff are invited to pay their respects to Canon Jane Lloyd as her funeral cortege makes its way past Poole Hospital on Friday.

The cortege will stop outside the hospital at 1.20pm for a few moments where colleagues, socially distanced, will be able to pay their respects. The funeral cortege will continue onto St. Nicholas' Church in Corfe Mullen for a private family funeral service. A memorial book and candles in the prayer space is open in the chapel at Poole Hospital for colleagues to write their tributes.

A memorial service will then take place on 25 June at St. Mary's RC Church, Wimborne Road, Poole – we'll provide more details on this nearer the time.

Reminder: share your views on the trust since merger

Six months on from our merger, we're continuing to transform our services as we move towards a planned care site and emergency care site in 2025/26.

Our short survey is for you to tell us how it feels working for UHD since the merger and to get your views on a range of topics, including our new vision and values, teams coming and working together, what transformation means to you, compassion towards patients and each other, and whether you feel able to lead change.

ICE system outage - 24 April

ICE OrderComms system will be unavailable between 8am and 2pm on Saturday 24th of April because of a scheduled system upgrade.

Please use your established contingency plans for Pathology and Radiology requesting. i.e. - use paper request forms.

During the outage:

• Pathology and Radiology results will continue to be available via EPR
• Pathology and Radiology results will continue to be available via SystemOne at the GP Practices

POOLE: Welcome to our new physician associates

Welcome to our eight new physician associates (PAs) that have started at Poole Hospital today. PAs are a growing workforce within the NHS and these are the first cohort to graduate from Bournemouth University, having trained at various organisations across Dorset. They are medically trained, generalist healthcare professionals, who work alongside clinicians as part of the multidisciplinary team.

Having successful completed the national exam, they are now starting their careers here. They are currently based on A4, A5, acute medical unit, ED and OPM. Please welcome them if you see them, they are a friendly bunch. They're pictured below with education centre staff and Dr Carl Heffernan (front), consultant acute physician and lecturer practitioner in in Physician Associate Studies at Bournemouth University.

Watch the latest Schwartz round on behaviours in the work place

Thank you for those who attended our Schwartz round: behaviours in the workplace, on Friday. More than 80 staff attended and reflected on the stories that our panellists shared. Stories ranged from times when we were subjected to incivility and poor behaviour, when we received that unsupportive and critical email, when our own intent and expressions were misinterpreted or when a good experience resulted in feeling welcome and secure. All the stories showed the long lasting impact of these behaviours and how it then affects how we are with others. For those who were unable to attend, please click here to watch.

If you would like some emotional and mental support please click here for details. Alternately there are other people to request support from including our HR and OH departments, Networks and Freedom to speak up teams. Please see these departments' intranet pages for details on how to contact them.

For details on future Schwartz Round dates, or to arrange a mini round for your team/department please visit our Schwartz Round page on the intranet.

POOLE: Food for thought!

News from our staff restaurant, the Dolphin:

Loyalty card – easy and fast way to pay for your food without worrying about having enough cash or bank card on you! The cards can be used in all food outlets across Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole Hospitals. The form and terms and conditions can be found by the till in the restaurant.

• Homemade paninis – a great selection, take a look!
  • Meal Deal 1 & Meal Deal 2 – this include your choice of:
  • Main: sandwich or half baguette (please look for blue sticker)
  • Snack: piece of fresh fruit, bag of Seabrook's crisps or bag of Walker's crisps
• Drink: water, flavoured water or zero sugar can drinks

The price is only £2.20 (staff), £2.70 (visitors) for meal deal 1, and £2.70 (staff), £3.20 (visitors) for meal deal 2!

RBCH: CIWL and HanBleep Refresh

Reminder: after the migration of CIWL and HanBleep, you may need to refresh your PC to activate the changes. If you are getting an error message, when trying to access CIWL or HanBleep, please refresh your browser, press the CTRL key and F5 together.

Latest Robert White Legacy Fund update out now

Robert White was an extraordinary local businessman who on his death donated his wealth to benefit countless thousands of NHS patients fighting cancer across Dorset. Read more about how his legacy fund is honouring Robert's gift, and how you can become involved, in the latest edition of the legacy fund newsletter here.

Planning for your retirement?

A pre-retirement seminar takes place on Wednesday 12 May 2021 from 9am –12.30pm in the lecture theatre at Poole Hospital.

The aim is to provide as much information as possible prior to retirement age to support informed choices and decisions regarding retirement, and is aimed at all staff planning to retire in the next 10 years.

Oak Tree Financial Training, an independent training consultancy, will present the seminar. Information will include:

• State pensions
• Income tax and the self-assessment tax regime
• The NHS pension scheme
• Company pension/personal Pension Schemes
• Savings & investments
• Credit history
• Mortgages/remortgages
• Wealth preservation including wills and inheritance tax
• How to get the best financial advice to suit your individual needs.

Places are limited to 30 so don't delay.

To book a place contact Sarah Watts, Pensions officer, on ext. 2786 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Care first webinars

Care first, our employee assistance programme, is putting on webinars this week. The themes are:

• Tuesday 20 April, 12-12.30pm – How hobbies can help with your work/life balance
• Wednesday 21 April, 12-12.30pm – Healthy hydration
• Thursday 22 April, 12-12.30pm – Long Covid: What do we know so far?
• Friday 23 April, 12-12.30pm - The way weather can affect our mood and behaviour

Roadworks

Click here for a list of the current roadworks taking place.